Report: Tencent has acquired Shanda Cloudary

Rumors have been swirling for months now that Shanda Cloudary, Shanda’s online literature company, is likely to be acquired by Tencent. Today, China’s tech media is reporting that the acquisition is final.

Nothing has yet been officially announced or confirmed, but an email Tencent’s literary platform sent to its authors on Friday does suggest the deal has been completed. In it, Tencent announces that the works on its own literary sites will also be added to Qidian.com, a major online literature portal that is owned and operated by Cloudary.

The email describes Qidian repeatedly as a “third party,” which implies that Tencent does not plan to wholly absorb Cloudary, and rather will allow it to continue operating as a separate company. But it’s clear that some kind of partnership is in place already, and given the strong rumors that Tencent has purchased a controlling share of the company from Shanda, I think this one’s a done deal.

See: After new investment, Shanda Cloudary cancels its IPO plans

(Source: Techweb)